Ian Lavery
Main Page: Ian Lavery (Labour - Blyth and Ashington)Department Debates - View all Ian Lavery's debates with the Leader of the House
(14 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)
1. What plans he has for the future funding of community arts projects.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (Mr Edward Vaizey)
Future funding for particular arts projects is ultimately a matter for the Arts Council but, as part of its recent settlement, we have asked it to limit cuts to the overall budget for arts organisations to just 15%. When this is combined with an increase in income for the arts good cause from the national lottery, I am confident that community arts projects will continue to be successful.
Ian Lavery
Will the Minister tell the House what impact the cut of 29.6% to the Arts Council budget will have on the future success of the creative industries?
Mr Vaizey
Although the overall grant to the Arts Council has gone down by 29%, we have asked the Arts Council to limit the cut to arts organisations to just 15%, and when we take into account the significant increase in funds from the national lottery, the overall cut to the Arts Council will be below 12%. That is very good news, and I hope that the hon. Gentleman will congratulate the Secretary of State on such a fine settlement.